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Great War of 2186
The Great War of 2186, also known simply as the Great War, or the Reaper War was a galaxy-wide conflict that pitted the Systems Alliance and the many races of the Council against the Reapers. The war followed a series of well coordinated strikes by the Reaper armada which targeted several homeworlds of the most technologically advanced races. After the homeworlds came under attack, the Reapers moved in and isolated several hundred star clusters all throughout the Milky Way, cutting off supplies and indoctrinating entire colonies to supplement the Reaper ground forces. Never fully heeding the warnings of the first human Spectre, the galaxy was stunned by the speed and effectiveness of the Reaper threat. From the first month of the war, the galaxy was fighting alone, the humans, asari and turians only fighting for themselves, desparately trying to defend their colonies and homeworld to no avail. But thanks to the work of the Asari scientist, Liara T'Soni, the galaxy found something to unite and rally behind. Dubbed, the Crucible, a weapon designed originally millions of years ago by an unknown alien race, and improved upon every cycle, that could finally bring an end to the Reaper's genocidal reign. For the next five months, the galaxy would come together, pulling resources for this one final effort. A united galaxy actually proved difficult for the Reapers. Battles were finally being won, and the once nightmarish battlefields of Earth, Illium and Palaven were now looking like fields of victory, one of the most famous efforts was during the Battle of Palaven where the Turian/Krogan alliance saw several Sovereign-class Reapers destroyed, pushing back the Reapers but not without heavy casualties and environmental damage from nuclear weaponry. While the final outcome of the war ended with the Crucible firing and causing a domino effect across the galaxy killing the Reapers and their thralls, many pockets of the galaxy still contained infestations of husks controlled by Reapers deep within barren planets as well as remnant resistance forces of Cerberus. The galaxy would rebuild, and never be the same again. History Arrival Fall of Kar'shan Loss at Arcturus Fall of Earth Hope on Mars Fall of Taetrus Battle for Palaven Battle for Illium Incursion on Sur'Kesh Battle of Tuchanka War for Rannoch Battle for Thessia Assault on Cerberus The Final Battle Logistics of the War Manpower Turian At the beginning of the war, the various races of the galaxy numbered in the billions, when the war started, there were no shortage of volunteers. Everyone knew what they were fighting and what was at stake. A notable example of impressive military power were the Turians, raised as warriors since birth. Once a Turian turned 15 years old, they were expected to serve the next 15 years in the military. This allowed for nearly every single Turian to become involved on the battlefields of Palaven and the Hierarchy's colonies during the war, which numbered around a few billion troops. Human After the Fall of Earth, the Systems Alliance instated a military draft. Millions of humans were drafted or volunteered to fight the Reaper threat. Before the war, the Alliance military numbered around 9 million active duty personnel. By the end of the war, that number had increased to 780 million active duty fighting across multiple theaters of war, including Earth. Asari The Asari, exceptionally skilled with biotics, utilized these tools against the Reapers with varying effectiveness. At the start of the war, the Asari fought the Reapers mostly on their own, citing that they could not join the galaxies efforts seeing as they have their own problems and could not risk losing supplies. It wasn't until the final months of the war that the Asari finally joined the vast galactic coalition, bringing their biotics with them. During the war, Asari ground forces numbered around 850 million, but major losses on Thessia and Illium have drastically reduced this number. Salarian Salarian manpower took few casualties during the war, mainly with Salarian space being toward the rear of the frontline conflicts, and Reaper forces focusing on Turian and Human worlds. This gave the Salarians extra time to fortify their worlds and regroup their fleets to secure their own borders. Salarian military strength was believed to number 78 million combat-ready troops. However, the Salarians did not fully dedicate themselves to the war effort, as the curing of the genophage was against their interests. The Salarians provided limited support during the final battle of the war. Krogan The Krogan military brought with them their infamous brutality and versatility to the battlefields of Tuchanka, Palaven and Earth. With only 55 million troops delivered to the war effort, with the bulk of the military defending Tuchanka, they have proved to be valuable allies against the Reapers. Geth The Geth provided millions of platforms to deploy against the Reapers on Earth. However, the total number of platforms present during the retaking of Earth is unknown. Other The Hanar, Drell, Elcor, Volus, Quarians and Batarians also provided what ground forces they had despite being primarily relying more on naval and air power. Naval Power The Turian fleet, being the largest and strongest naval power in the galaxy, proved to hold up to its name against the Reaper threat. Impressive discipline and tactics deployed against the Reapers as well as vast numbers, took the pressure off many worlds. The Turians also command a staggering 38 Dreadnoughts. These Dreadnought have proved their value in battles, successfully disabling Reaper ships. But, their importance has made them a target of the Reapers, and with how unreliable barrier and armor are against Reaper weapons, most Dreadnoughts were pulled out of heavily contested battles. However, the Turian's overwhelming tactics were eventually matched by the Reapers, effectively stalling Turian offensives until arrival of Krogan reinforcements. The Turian protectorate race, the Volus command a single Dreadnought and a vast fleet of bomber ships. The Turian Navy and its allies command a total number of ~4,000 vessels. The Human fleet was hit hard and took many losses when Earth fell. The Alliance lost the entire Second Fleet to ensure that the Fifth and Third fleets could escape. With the fleet scattered and in disarray, the Alliance Navy was crippled for the first few weeks of the war. However, with Admiral Hackett regaining control, the Fleet was reorganized and conducted evacuation operations, Reaper raids and assaults against Cerberus. Recruiting Strategies Casualty Reports